Integrated Watershed ManagementPromote the pursuit of ecological, social, and economic sustainability of natural resources and the environment in the context of human intervention, the needs and responsibilities and the risk and occurrence of disasters, of mainly hydrometeorological origin.
Specific Objectives
- Provide the countries in the region with tools and/or inputs for managing the quality and quantity of water resources.
- Contribute to biodiversity conservation.
- Combat desertification and improve soil fertility.
- Contribute to the reduction of risk and vulnerability in natural disasters, particularly those associated with weather (flood, landslide, avalanche, drought).
Water Resource Management: Water is regarded as an essential need for both the economic growth and the social development of a country. Due to a variety of activities, both consumption and production depend on water resource management. Currently, high population growth rate has created conflicts in the quantity, quality, and availability of water resources. Necessary measures, including regulation of water use through planning mechanisms, policies and laws allowing protection of water resources and distribution of water in a rational way, will be taken.
Land: The management of watersheds, in its basic concept, integrates the need to manage the territory based on the vocation of the watershed, land use capacity, identifying critical areas, social factors, and diagnostic capabilities and offering services that fall under the principles of land management.
Vulnerability: The integrated management of natural resources within the watershed is an ideal way to mitigate and reduce natural disasters vulnerability. Since these steps can now be taken by analyzing bio-physical and socio-environmental interactions related to water and other natural resources, necessary actions to reduce risk and vulnerability to natural disasters, primarily associated with hydro-climate phenomena (floods, landslides, avalanches, drought, etc.) can be taken.. Policies, legislation, land use, natural resource management, education, organization, prevention and financing mechanisms are the basis for good watershed management to reduce the risk and vulnerability of disaster.
Promotion and incorporation of clean technologies: Clean technologies are an environmentally friendly option to reduce pollution in the environment and lessen waste generation, in addition to increasing the efficient use of natural resources such as water and energy. This allows for generating economic benefits, optimizing costs and improving product competitiveness.
The use of clean technology represents an option that is technically, economically and environmentally appropriate and that contributes to the sustainable development of businesses and the country in general. Examples of clean technologies are: organic agriculture processes and agricultural activities, livestock, forestry, industrial and agro-industrial. Some examples of strategic components that are often incorporated into clean technology management plans are the following: non-polluting, natural engineering, decontamination technologies, management of solid and liquid waste, and recovery of degraded soils.
